Help 200 students stay in school

Dear supporters,

As you know, summer at Teach For Bulgaria does not necessarily equal a break from school and learning. For students in 5 places across Bulgaria, the months of July and August bring Summer START Academies. Over three weeks, students from Sofia, Brestnitsa, Burgas, Razgrad and Razhena delve into learning and making up for material they have missed over the school year.

Each Summer START Academy combines lessons in Bulgarian Language and Maths with engaging activities that support the development of socio-emotional skills, collaboration and communication. Every year, the learning is done through exploring an overarching theme that helps the children contextualise what they are learning. The theme in the Brestnitsa Summer START Academy was Health, healthy living habits, and health-related professions. 40 students from Brestnitsa, aged 7-14, took part in the activities between July 6th and 24th.

In addition to the regularly scheduled learning, the students met with medical specialists in three meetings during the three weeks. The doctors discussed with the children topics that are close to their everyday lives, such as personal hygiene and its importance for health, contagious and infectious diseases and ways to prevent them, addictions - smoking, alcohol, drugs, gambling, and digital addictions - as well as mental health and stress management.

Another special activity was the visit to the cafeteria in the Titan Zlatna Panega plant, where the students got a hands-on experience of cooking healthy seasonal meals. This way, they put what they learned into practice and discovered that healthy eating can be as fun and tasty as it is beneficial.

Thank you for your support for the Summer START Academies run by Teach For Bulgaria alumni that support over 200 students per year!

Gratefully,
The Teach For Bulgaria Team